Sydney - Australia on Wednesday placed further sanctions on Iran but dropped plans to hold President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to account for his anti-Semitic pronouncements.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Canberra was "deeply concerned" at Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment and other activities as required by multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Australia has repeatedly urged Iran to cooperate with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to show it is only using uranium for peaceful purposes.

Smith announced financial sanctions on individuals and organizations deemed essential Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

Tehran - Middle East peace pacts will not solve the dilemma in the Middle East, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Monday told former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and several former heads of Western states.

Annan and the Western dignitaries were in Tehran for attending a religious conference initiated by Ahmadinejad's opponent and ex- president Mohammad Khatami.

Tehran - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami Monday hosted an international religious conference aimed at differentiating between Islam the religion and Islamism as an ideology for terrorism.

The conference, titled Religion in the Modern World, was organized by the Dialogue Among Civilizations' Centre, an Iranian non-governmental organization headed by Khatami; the Club of Madrid, an independent organization promoting democracy; and the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights, headed by former Norwegian premier Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Tehran - Moderate cleric Mehdi Karroubi became the first candidate to officially declare his nomination Sunday for next June's presidential elections to challenge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The 71-year-old cleric is head of the moderate opposition party Etemad Melli (National Trust) and the party's choice run in the June 12 elections.

"It will be quite difficult but I am still ready to take the challenge for changing the political status quo," Karroubi said in a press conference in Tehran.

The cleric referred to the president's economic and foreign policies as the main problems of the current administration which should be amended.

Tehran  - Iranian opposition groups are gradually preparing to mount a challenge to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next June's presidential elections, local media reported Saturday.

Mehdi Karroubi, the 71-year-old head of the moderate Etemad Melli (National Trust) party, will most likely be the first to confirm his candidacy for the June 12, 2009 elections in a press conference on Sunday.

Islamabad, Oct 11 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Iran has agreed to provide his country with crude oil on deferred payment for three months.

He said this while addressing a joint press conference after talks with Iranian FM Manouchehr Mottaki, reported the Daily Times.

Qureshi said that under the Iranian law, crude oil could be imported on a deferred payment for a maximum of three months and Mottaki had said his government would consider extending the period.